In her later years, Jane Austen made a patchwork quilt. She folded thousands of tiny scraps of fabric over diamond-shaped slips of paper and painstakingly stitched them together. Kate Evans employs these slivers of cloth to illustrate Jane Austen’s life story. Evans teases apart the threads that connect Austen’s beloved novels, the events of her life, and the fabric of society in Regency England.
Patchwork is a major new work of graphic biography. Kate Evans has an unparalleled ability to marry drama, comedy, and historically immersive detail, bringing Austen’s story to life with fluid, dynamic artwork, at times embroidered onto cloth itself. The author’s love for Austen shines throughout. Her incredible eye for historical detail – panes of glass, bits of lace, hedge-laying styles, the cut of a coat or the architecture of a Hampshire cottage – creates a captivating vision of Jane Austen’s world.
This is a special open meeting of the Stitches and Stories bookgroup but visitors are encouraged for what is sure to be a very special event. No charge.
Bring a stitching project with you if you would like to.
JOIN THE CLUB
The book club meetings are seated events, so places are limited, and events can get pretty full. Please email Jules on jules@northbooks.co.uk to add your name to the list.
At North Books, 4 Castle Street, Hay-on-Wye on Thursday 30 October, 4–5.30pm.
THE BOOK
Patchwork by Kate Evans is extra curricular to Stitches & Stories bookgroup reads of 2025.
‘Recommended to people who have any type of contact with the world of Jane Austen, her work or simply life in Regency times’ Malwina Dul.
Patchwork is an A4 graphic novel biography of Jane Austen in the illustration style of Georgian caricature.